On March 19, 2020, the Supreme People's Court released its Legislative Plan for Judicial Interpretations in 2020. A total of 49 judicial interpretations, which are divided into two categories, are slated to be drafted/updated.

The first category is set to be completed by the end of 2020. It covers 38 judicial interpretations, including inter alia, “Several Provisions on the Evidence in IP-related Civil Procedures”, “Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trail of Administrative Cases involving the Granting and Affirmation of Patent Rights”, “Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Trade Secret Infringement” and the “Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Disputes over Pharmaceutical Patent Linkage” (New project).

The second category is set to be completed in the first half of 2021. It covers 11 judicial interpretations, including inter alia, “Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over National Defense Patent” (New project), “Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Exercise of Punitive Damages for Infringement of IP rights”, “Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trail of Civil Cases Involving Unfair Competition Disputes” (New project) and the “Provisions on the Application of Laws in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over a New Plant Variety Right”.

The legislative plan does not include the long-awaited update of the “Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trail of Civil Cases Involving Trademark Disputes”, which was promulgated in 2002.

Contributed by: Wen Cui